UK minister is cleared

LONDON - The Social Security minister, Mr Andrew Mitchell, was yesterday cleared of trying to improperly influence a Commons …

LONDON - The Social Security minister, Mr Andrew Mitchell, was yesterday cleared of trying to improperly influence a Commons inquiry into the cash for questions affair.

However, the House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee said it had been a "mistake" for Mr Mitchell, a former government whip, to have been appointed to an earlier committee investigating "sleaze" allegations.

It said it was "inappropriate" for whips of the main parties to serve on quasi judicial committees of the house, such as the old members' interests committee, which sit in judgment on other MPs. And it said Mr Mitchell - like all members - should have known of the members' interests committee's quasi judicial role when he was appointed to it in June 1994.